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Hey there guys and gals, I've got a question for anyone who can answer it!

My friend sent me his iPhone 3G. He gave it to me for free because it has cracks on the back, and the glass is really cracked on the front. The LCD is still fine, no dead pixels or anything like that. But here's my situation:

I am NOT currently with at&t nor do I intend to switch to at&t. I know Apple won't service the phone unless I have an at&t sim card, which is precisely why I'm going to buy a prepaid 3G sim at wal mart for 15 bucks before I go there. Now, I called the Apple store AND AppleCare and they both told me it's a $199 charge to fix the phone. If they can't fix it, AppleCare said they would replace it with a new one. I see that being the case since this phone is pretty torn up.

It's not in warranty, and it doesn't have AppleCare, but they told me it doesn't matter. The cost to fix an iPhone doesn't change, it's always $199. So here's my question:

If they can't just fix it, and they have to give me a new one, are they going to ask for at&t account information before I leave the store?

Also, since I'll be bringing in an at&t sim card, regardless that it's prepaid, would they just give me a new phone and not ask questions?

I know these are probably very stupid questions to some, but I really wanna know if I can get this thing fixed or replaced!

Thank you for your help, and I'd appreciate if people didn't trash me for not using an iPhone on at&t's network.

If they can't just fix it, and they have to give me a new one, are they going to ask for at&t account information before I leave the store?

Also, since I'll be bringing in an at&t sim card, regardless that it's prepaid, would they just give me a new phone and not ask questions?

I know these are probably very stupid questions to some, but I really wanna know if I can get this thing fixed or replaced!

Thank you for your help, and I'd appreciate if people didn't trash me for not using an iPhone on at&t's network.

Ok, I'm in Canada, but I'll take a shot at it...

If they give you a new phone, it will be locked to AT&T right out of the box. Your phone will have the paper work of a repair. Since it is a repair and not a new phone purchase, the likely hood of them asking for information is less. Also, (this is where someone on AT&T can chime in) I think you can do in home activations, so just use that excuse and say I'll do it at home.

I'm surprised that Apple will even take your SIM card... Here in Canada, Rogers asks you to remove the SIM before you service the phone, so that you can put it into another phone and have your number connected (assuming you put it in another phone) while your current phone is being fixed. The SIM has no relevance to your repair. Theoretically, any AT&T SIM should do. But its surprising that they require the SIM in the phone to do the repair.

Hey iLaw, thanks for the response. Great news, I went in today and they gave me no issues. Thankfully, my friend included the sim card with the phone, so there was no issue there. I even got a bit of an upgrade because they didn't have any white 3G's in stock! He said they don't like to exchange white for black or vice versa...So with that, they went ahead and hooked me up with a white 16GB 3GS! Since I had a ton of questions and curiosities beforehand that some others may have now, I'll go ahead and lay out what I know:

If you get a replacement phone (not a repair of the one you have now), your new iPhone will have a 1 year warranty from the day you get it. So for example, today, I got a replacement phone for mine, and this new one has a warranty until August of 2010. Nice!

If you have an at&t sim card, there's really no worries for you. I was worried that they wouldn't do the repair/replacement because the sim didn't even work, but I told them it's been acting up lately and they just suggested I take it to an at&t store and get a new one after I leave.

They flat out will NOT do any kind of exchange if you don't have an at&t sim card. Regardless of the fact that you may be with at&t, if there's no sim, it's no bueno.

If your phone has more damage than just the screen, you can request a new phone altogether. In my case, the back casing was cracked as well as the screen and he asked if I'd like a new one instead of waiting for a repair. Score!

The cost of a new phone or a repair is the same--$199. It doesn't matter what phone or generation iPhone you have, it's always $199.

Just like iLaw said, you can tell them you'll finish activating the phone from home and there should be no issues with that. To my knowledge, this only works with Apple stores in the US. Anywhere outside of the US, I can't help you. Certain providers have different rules with the home activation policy.

I hope this helps as I'm sure someone is going through, or will go through the same situation I did. Thanks for reading.